Sorry, but I don’t have much compassion for people who steal from our neighborhood grocery stores and then plant themselves in public restrooms to drink and pass out. I also don’t have much compassion for the hordes of new (and native) vagrants in town who loiter on public property and drink and do drugs openly and without consequence. I completely agree with the letter writer who lamented, “What is America coming to?” For those who scoff, watch a brilliant documentary called “Seattle is Dying.”

I, for one, am tired of having the homeless (yes, it’s a word) shoved down my throat. I resent the fact that we are now required to build them a homeless hotel in town that most vagrants will not use. I will not be shamed for refusing to smile, give a kind word, or worse, give money to drug addicts, thieves, criminals and others who are able to work but instead choose to party in their ocean-view tents on the taxpayers’ dime. There is plenty of help available to these people. They simply don’t want the rules and conditions that go along with the help.

Stop spoon-feeding addicts and anarchists and save your compassion for those who truly want to make their lives better and are willing to pull themselves up and do the hard work it takes to be a decent member of society.

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I have not seen the video about Seattle. I suspect it identifies problems very similar to ours. Problems that have become a national epidemic.

There has always been a homeless population in our country. But the situation has grown expotentially in the past few years. The causes of this problem have also increased with the growth of homelessness.

Drugs, PTSD from military service, mental illness are all contributors to this situation. Our solutions are the same as they were 50 years ago. But those solutions are inadequate for today’s homeless population.

But we surely ignore the problem at our risk. These people are not going to disappear if we ignore them. “Don’t feed the pigeons” mentality won’t starve them out of existence. We need better solutions. Solutions that will not just take them off our streets but rehabilitate them. Why? Because it is in OUR OWN BEST INTERESTS.

This is not a bleeding heart response, it’s a practical one. These are human beings, not just pests. We don’t get rid of them with traps or poison. We cant pick them up and relocate them. So we need solutions that works.

I propose that the three southern cities of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point combine efforts and resources to bring new and more permanent solutions to this problem. Form a joint action group, hire experts, involve institutions like UCI and work together for everyone’s benefit.

There are better ways to deal with the homeless problem in San Clemente, but city leaders and residents are not making the wise decisions that would bring the problem to an end legally.
Be careful getting your information from John and Ken, they could care even less about San Clemente.
They are planning to bring a live broadcast to San Clemente. They will ridicule the homeless, but they will ridicule everything else, your leaders, law enforcement and even you. You can trust that they will not bring any solutions. They never do. Just jokes.
You can bet by the time John and Ken finish their broadcast in San Clemente that you and your city, unfortunately, will be the laughing stock. It’s all about their ratings.